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ILLUSTRATIONS BY TATEVIK AVAKYAN
“What’s wrong with this one?” Katie asked. Her
mom ran a wildlife rehabilitation center, so she was
used to having all different types of animals around.
She was usually excited to visit and help nurse the
injured creatures back to health, but not today.
“This one is Daisy, and some rangers spotted her
tangled up in a fishing net,” Katie’s mom sighed. “It
was clear she hadn’t eaten in a while and she had
some snout injuries.”
“I don’t see any cuts or scrapes,” Katie said, taking
a closer look at the gator.
“Yeah, she’s healed nicely. But she still seems so
... angry. Dad and I brought her back here weeks ago,
and no matter what we do, she doesn’t want to eat
or play with us. She even swims away when I try to
groom her. We can’t release her back into the wild
like this.”
“She kind of sounds like me,” Katie joked.
Her mom ruffled her hair and threw an arm around
her shoulder, squeezing Katie tight. “I know you’ve
been having a hard time since Rayna left, but it’s
going to be okay.”
Unlikely, Katie thought. Rayna was Katie’s best
friend and, until a few months ago, she’d lived only
three blocks away. Now she lived three states away,
and Katie didn’t know what to do with herself. All
she did now was mope around the house, and her
parents were clearly worried about her attitude
change. Last night, Katie’s dad had made chocolate
chip cookies — her favorite — and she didn’t even
eat one!
“I don’t know about that, Mom,” Katie said
honestly. “But I think it’s almost time for Rayna to be
done with camp, so I’m going to go into your office
and call her, okay?”
Katie had already turned around when her mom
called after her. “Wait a minute. I asked you to come
today to help me feed the animals.”
“I thought you were just sick of me sulking in my
room,” Katie teased.
ANGRY
“Katie, come over here,” Katie heard her mom call.
“Maybe you can help me cheer up this grumpy gator.”
Story We ❤
Alligator
The
